By Mr. Propwise

Shoebox apartments (aka “mickey mouse” apartments) have become increasingly popular in recent years, with caveats lodged rising from fewer than 30 in 2004 to more than 1,900 units in 2010. They are becoming a more prominent feature in our private housing landscape – they made up just 6% of new private home sales in 2008, but that figure has doubled to 12% in 2010.

While there is no industry accepted standard definition of what constitutes a shoebox unit, Minister Khaw Boon Wan has categorized them on his blog as apartments that were smaller than 500 square feet.

The natural choice for budding investors?

Due to their lower total costs (usually less than $1m per unit), they have become the vehicle of choice for budding investors who only have a moderate amount of cash to put to work, while promising decent potential rental yields of 3% to 5%. ...